Tuesday, June 20, 2006

I want to let you know what the 50-state strategy has meant in my state.

When we leave the Republicans unopposed in places like Utah, it frees them up to concentrate on making inroads in marginal districts. Members of Congress in tough places deserve support, too. Representative Jim Matheson here in Utah, Representative Stephanie Herseth in South Dakota and even a potential pick-up like Congressional candidate Gary Trauner in Wyoming need a healthy, functioning Democratic Party in their states in order to survive. The 50-state strategy is making that happen.

"Win for today" is not a long-term strategy by itself, and it has left millions of Americans and vast areas of the country without a healthy political dialogue. When we don't show up for tough fights, they only get tougher the next time around.

We're changing that now. The April 29th canvass put a clear Democratic message and a call to volunteer on the doorsteps of 15,000 registered Democrats here.

That has never happened before.

A whole generation of Utahns have never seen a representative from the Democratic Party except on TV. Democrats had become outsiders who do things to us, not insiders who do things for us. The 50-state strategy has turned that around.

"Even in Utah" there are thoughtful Democrats elected to office like Congressman Matheson, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. The DNC's investment here will make sure that they retain their seats. I expect the 50-state strategy efforts will help Mayor Corroon get a majority of Democrats to support his policies on the Salt Lake County Council. That will show Utahns for the first time in a decade that we have the ability to govern effectively.

The national party has starved places like Utah for a long time. Consequently, Utahns were starving for new leadership. But we are already on our way. Not only is the 50-state strategy laying the groundwork for long-term change in Utah, we have already seen the results.

Already, 2006 marks our best candidate recruitment in over 15 years. We have recruited candidates for every single State Senate race, and we have challengers running in ten State House races that went unopposed in 2004. The recruitment efforts, led by new staff deployed as part of the 50-state strategy, include not only life-long Democrats but also six Republicans who have switched parties.

The 50-state strategy is the future of our party here in Utah. With your support it can be the future of our party everywhere.